ALBANY — George B. Ceresia, the administrative judge for the 3rd Judicial District, which covers seven counties including Albany and Rensselaer, resigned from his position Wednesday, officials said.

Ceresia, 69, a Troy native who has held the top judicial post since 2004, left in what was described as a pre-emptive strike because he was about to be replaced, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Ceresia, a state Supreme Court justice based in Rensselaer County, sent an email to district employees. The district covers Albany, Rensselaer, Columbia, Greene, Ulster, Schoharie and Sullivan counties.

The 1968 graduate of Albany Law School and one-time North Greenbush town justice was elected to state Supreme Court in 1994 and re-elected in 2008. His term expires in 2021.

He was appointed administrative judge for the 3rd Judicial District by the state's then-chief administrative judge, Jonathan Lippman, now chief judge of the Court of Appeals.

Ceresia serves at the pleasure of the state's administrative judge, who is now Gail Prudenti.

He will be replaced by an appointee of Prudenti, who will have input from Lippman and Karen Peters, presiding justice of the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court's 3rd Department, which covers 23 upstate counties including the Capital Region.

Ceresia is also the father of Rensselaer County Judge Andrew Ceresia.

The elder Ceresia, a Democrat, succeeded Thomas W. Keegan, who retired in March 2004.